Why Use Social Marketing?

The prevention of violence against women (VAW) requires an intentional and comprehensive approach that includes addressing its key determinants. Social marketing is one strategy to change social norms by providing key messages of gender equality, inclusiveness, appropriate behaviour and respectful relationships, and how sexist attitudes and abusive behaviour towards women can be challenged.

Social Marketing seeks to influence voluntary behaviour through rewards and reinforcement not coercion and punishment.

How Does It Differ From Public Education?

At the most basic level, public education is used to communicate information and/or to build skills. It may involve a consumer focus and can be persuasive, especially when the information is novel and relevant (e.g., learning that something we thought was harmless is harmful).

Social marketing uses education as one of many tools within its marketing plan.

Understanding Change

Behaviour Change theories help explain how change happens. These theories strongly inform social marketing. Drawing from a range of change theories, researcher Martin Fishbein suggests one or more of the following must be true in order for a person to perform a given behaviour.

The person…

commits to perform the behaviour (positive intention)

has the skill

believes she/he/they can do it

believes advantages outweigh the disadvantages

perceives more social pressure for behaviour than against it

perceives behaviour as more consistent than inconsistent with his/her/their self-image

experiences more positive than negative emotions after performing behaviour

experiences no environmental constraints that prevent performing the behaviour.

The above recommendations are based on the publications at the following links:

VicHealth Review of Communication Components of Social Marketing/Public Education Campaigns Focusing on Violence Against Women (2005)

Social Marketing for Preventing Violence Against Women: Making Every Action Matter (2013)

Key Best Practices for Effective Sexual Violence Public Education Campaigns: A Summary (2011)

Learn from two VAW social marketing efforts that document thorough formative research, monitoring, and evaluation:

FAMILY VIOLENCE: IT’S NOT OK

STRENGTH TO CHANGE

Check out and share these Ontario-based campaigns:

DRAW THE LINE

Neighbours, Friends & Families

Voisin-es, ami-es et familles

Kanawayhitowin

Basic Steps for Developing a Campaign

(Adapted from Lee & Kotler, 2008 & Castelino, Colla & Boulet, 2013)

1. Identify and describe issue being addressed and intended focus of campaign

2. Ensure organization has capacity to undertake campaign

3. Identify potential opportunities and threats that may influence the campaign

4. Identify and describe target/primary audience(s)

5. Outline campaign objectives

6. Work with the target audience to learn what may influence campaign success (e.g., perceived or real barriers, benefits, and competing attitudes/behaviours)

7. Create a positioning statement

8. Develop proposed messages and objectives that are relevant, accessible, relatable, and motivational

9. Consult with stakeholders

10. Test proposed messages and objectives with a range of groups in the population, including women and children experiencing violence, the target audience(s), and VAW stakeholders

11. Monitor progress of campaign and evaluate

When developing the campaign budget, consider the work involved in the above steps, as well as the implementation plan. Learning at a given step may lead to revisiting and adjusting work at earlier steps (i.e., not a linear process).

Examples from Points 6 and 7 above:

6. Competing attitudes/behaviours include those preferred or habitually carried out by the target audience(s)

7. A positioning statement describes the benefits of the campaign’s promoted attitudes/behaviours to the target audience in relation to competing attitudes/behaviours. The positioning statement forms the foundation of the campaign messages/strategies.

“We want Target Audience to see Desired Attitude/ Behaviour as Set of Benefits and as more important and beneficial than Competing Attitudes/Behaviours.”

(Lee & Kotler, 2008)

EXAMPLE: “We want men who use violence in their intimate relationships to see calling a hotline and reaching out for help as an important step in ending their use of abuse and as more important and beneficial than ignoring or hiding their abusive behaviour”. (see Learning Brief 16)